Guessing one word isn’t enough for your competitive self? In comes Dordle, a Wordle clone with even more devious intentions. Can you solve two words, at the same time? Can you manage two parallel game boards, your guesses impacting both, your focus divided, your concentration put in a grinder?
The only way to know is by playing Dordle, getting your hands dirty, and figuring out the ins and outs of the game by spending time with it. However, if you need a helping hand, make sure you read our guide. It’ll help you navigate Dordle better.
What is Dordle?
Dordle is a wordle alternative, a clone built for players who feel like they need only 3-4 guesses to figure out every day’s Wordle. Dordle, or should we say Wordle², offers an exciting solution for these players.
Described by its creator Guilherme S. Töws as “Wordle plus Wordle”, Dordle is a way more challenging outlook on Wordle’s formula. You have to guess two words, concurrently, in 7 tries, with 5-letter guesses. These elusive words have separate grids dedicated to them and both the grids work independently of each other.
So, why Dordle, why not Absurdle, or Lewdle or Primel, or one of the many Wordle clones out there? Because you don’t have to wait until the next day to indulge in Dordle’s word-guessing experience. Yes, you can play Dordle even after completing that day’s challenge. That’s part of the appeal.
Rules and game strategy aside, Dordle is a completely free, HTML5 based word-guessing game that is just 1 or 2 clicks away from you. Read ahead to find out how you can play Dordle.
How to play Dordle
Contrary to what you might think, Dordle is not an app. The only way to play this multitasking rendition of Worlde is by visiting its website at: zaratustra.itch.io/dordle.
Now that you’re all set to step in Dordle’s world of concurrent word-guessing, here’s a concise list of tips that’ll help you account for the 2-grid twist that Dordle is famous for.
Related: Read tips for Wordle to get started Dordle
Overall approach when playing Dordle
It is easy to get overwhelmed by Dordle’s huge grid, which is bigger than twice the size of Wordle’s grid. However, if you really think about it, the best way to approach Dordle’s 2-grid system is to focus all your attention on guessing one word as quickly as you can, in 3-4 tries max. Anything beyond that and you’re inviting panic before you run out of tries.
The trick though is in figuring out when to pivot to the word you should guess. You have to throw the first 1-2 tries at the wall in hopes of getting the most data you can. Then figure out from here which side (left or right) has revealed the most information. Pick a side and follow it to the end.
Enter this word as soon as you guess it and begin guessing the 2nd word. That’s because so that you save the last attempt to solve the second grid, not both as that’s not possible now.
Plan your starting words
Just like Wordle, the starting word is of paramount importance here too. Two-fold importance in fact. Not only does it help you get data out of nothing, but it also takes you one step closer to deciding the side you’re going to pick first.
Try to pick a starting word with the most vowels like ADIEU, ABOUT, EQUAL, OUIJA, AUDIO, LOUIE.
On a different side of the spectrum (that also makes sense), you can also choose to start words with 5 distinct letters, the most statically common letters in 5-letter words like S, E, A, O, R, I, L, T, N, and U. A couple of examples are ROATE, RAISE, and ULTRA.
Websites that can help you narrow down your word search
If all else fails and you find yourself at a corner, staring down at the bottom of Dordle’s grid with only 2-3 tries left, you can relax because there’s a way of narrowing down your word search significantly without explicitly cheating (we wouldn’t do that would we).
Let’s say you know what your word(s) begins with, or ends with, or the letters it contains or doesn’t, or even the string of letters it contains. You can use this data to filter words on websites like bestwordlist.com and wordfinderx.com. In the picture below we filter words based on the first 3 letters, however, feel free to apply filters based on the data you get from your guesses.
It’s a really great resource that can also help improve your vocabulary.
Read: How to Get Started With Wordle and Ace it
Difference between Wordle and Dordle
The ground rules of Dordle and Wordle are mostly similar, a 5X6 game board(s) paired with the familiar color coding scheme (green, yellow, and grey) that informs you about the status of letters in your guesses.
However, there’s an inherent difference. Since there are two grids in Dordle instead of Wordle’s one, thus the name Dordle, you see, and the keyboard will reflect two colors, the left half for the left grid and the right half for the right grid.
After you’ve guessed one word, these colored keys on the Dordle’s keyboard will change proportions (smaller left part if the left word is guessed first). Refer to the picture below for reference.
Dordle offers two ways of copying your results. While copy to clipboard copies the routine of your word(s)-guessing journey, copy in discord format attached spoiler-filled column containing your guesses with it.
Another big difference between Dordle and Wordle is about how many games you can play in a day. Dordle allows players to play a new game again after they finish the day’s game. All you gotta do after finishing your daily dordle is go back, and tap/click on free dordle.
A helpful tip: Answer one word right away once you know it
It’s always helpful to have a couple of tips and tricks handy while playing puzzle games bound by something. In this case, we’re bound by the number of tries, 7. With this limited number of tries and an additional grid to take care of, it’s paramount that you keep track of the number of tries left after each guess.
Remember, you’re guessing two words in 7-tries, so by the 6th try it’s quite imperative that you manage to figure out at least one of the two words.
And if you have in fact guessed one of the words, do enter it immediately since we don’t want to get cornered in a situation where we have to enter two answers but we have only 1 try left. Unless both words are the same, it’s impossible to guess two words with one try, hit two birds with one arrow, so to speak.
Useful Wordle resources:
Here’s a list of some of our articles about Wordle tips, tricks, and strategies that will translate well to Dordle and can help you get the most out of your word-guessing experience.
- What is a Good Wordle Score?
- Wordle: 5-Letter Words With the Most Vowels
- Average Wordle Score and Stats
- Wordle Colors: What does Yellow and Green Mean?
- Wordle: How to Know if Someone is Cheating
- Wordle Help: How to find a hint in Wordle
We hope our guide helped you get up to speed with Dordle. If you have any more questions feel free to comment below.
How to capture your streak in Dordle? Last two days it appears this is the first time I’ve played.